 Note DHS Logo on this thing. Welcome to America!
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CBP Launches New Maritime Unmanned Aircraft System – CBP.gov — This news broke on Wednesday and was under-reported by the media. They keep saying it is unmanned, but never say anything about it being unarmed.
“The Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System has proven its value to homeland security over the nation’s land borders, the Great Lakes region, and in support of DHS hurricane and flood response operations,” said Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine. “With the introduction of the Guardian, maritime variant of the Predator B, DHS now has a powerful tool and force multiplier to increase maritime domain awareness and confront threats to our borders.”
The Guardian has been modified from a standard Predator B with structural, avionics, and communications enhancements, as well as the addition of a Raytheon SeaVue Marine Search Radar and an Electro-optical/Infrared Sensor that is optimized for maritime operations.
The Guardian is expected to be ready for Operational Test and Evaluation in early 2010. This OT&E will be conducted jointly by CBP and USCG from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. After the Guardian completes operational testing this spring, it will be deployed to the drug source and transit zones to support joint counter-narcotics operations.
And this is going to do what exactly?
Paranoid nutball fantasies aside, this is cool. This sort of thing would come in very handy in search & rescue, in emergency weather situations. And for all those wanting an endless ‘border fence’, this sort of thing has been and will be used for that as well.
Dude, it’s just a plane. So they’re piloting it from the ground rather than putting a person in it. What’s the diff other than being cheaper and more effective, which is what we want our government to be right?
The police fly planes and helicopters over my home city (Seattle) all the time, for everything from catching highway speeders to searching for criminals. Coast Guard has their own aircraft too. So this doesn’t have a pilot in the vehicle. Big deal.
News I saw on TV, (I watch various networks and do not pay attention which one this was, but one of NY network news) was very clear about the fact that it is unarmed, repeated few times in the segment…
While safer and less likely to cause legal troubles that way, this is still unprecedented capability to violate all kinds of privacy rights without public ability to keep checks and balances in an easy way. One step closer to the Police state.
It’s going to ferret out anyone living off the grid. And bomb them.
@#1 Difference is in its stealth capacity (for ordinary citizens,… you know when helicopter is buzzing near by and can [if paranoid] confirm its purpose), electronic spying equipment and lack of public oversight (because it is new and “secret” stuff). It is privacy intrusion you are NOT aware of… As such it should be banned or accompanied with police officer waking along its sight path and announcing with loudspeaker to the area that “you are being watched”…
I hope I’m not on the first commercial jet that this thing slams into.
#5 Special Ed:
I hope I’m not on the first commercial jet that this thing slams into.
They probably won’t allow this thing into normal commercial flight paths for just that reason. So now the smugglers and terrorists will know where the safe passage zones are. More Security Theater and hundreds of millions down the toilet for naught.
Surveillance makes us free. If you aren’t doing anything illegal you have nothing to worrya bout.
I am not sure if its cheaper? These things are pretty pricy. Good for boarder patrol and natural disasters.
“And this is going to do what exactly?”
Will harass weed importers trying to sneak in from wherever. They’ll piss away billions on it (that we don’t have). Just watch.
This is a good use of drone technology, exactly what they were intended for. That whole, blow-em-up thing, is an optional extra and Windows XP service pack upgrade.
Technology, in itself, is value neutral. The ultimate value of any technology can only be measured by the uses made of it by people.
The thing that bothers me is the creation of the department of “Homeland Security”, in the first place.
We were told that it was created to eliminate interagency communication problems and turf wars.
So, because the President and Congress couldn’t get the boys and girls to play nice with each other, they created a brand new, monster sized, therefore harder to manage, department.
Of course it failed. Turf wars exist in every sized organization. The larger the organization, the harder it is to manage.
Now it is a catchall for anything and everything the government wants to do. Absolutely anything can be a matter of “homeland security”. All you have to do is say it is.
Even if the department itself was benign, who thought up that nazi-ish name? It’s creepy.
“who thought up that nazi-ish name? It’s creepy.”
I bet it was Cheney,
There’s that speeder again. Herb, do we have a heat seeker on this prede.. oops, Eagle flight?
Most of these aren’t on “auto pilot” though they can technically run simple missions, especially over unpopulated regions…but in an urban area they’d be manually controlled from the ground.
Again, if DHS rents a bi-plane or helicopter it wouldn’t be news. Just because this thing is piloted from a ground station vs human in the vehicle so what.
The Republicans gave the government nearly infinite power in the “war on terror” which isn’t legally defined or definable. We’re not fighting countries (which can surrender) but just “bad guys”. So our government can now take people in secret, hold them in secret forever without charges at the WHIM of the President if they’re deemed “terrorists”. My government can now read my mail, email, listen to my phone, all without warrant. Thanks Republicans! Thanks for smaller and less intrusive government you always promise before each election! Not that the Democrats look like they’re going to stop this, but the Republicans are “supposed” to for freedom and less government (ie. Palin) but they’re the ones who WANT the government to spy on me, and control my every move, including my actual literal sex life. That doesn’t sound like a less intrusive government. In one of my favorite quotes, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
The craft pictured is not a Predator drone, but an MQ-9 ‘Reaper’, a much bigger variant, made by the same folks who brought you the Predator. Hopefully, the craft will not keep it’s ‘MQ’ designation, because MQ means the craft is armed. RQ is the recon designation.
“Surveillance makes us free. If you aren’t doing anything illegal you have nothing to worrya bout.”
Right…
Soon, very soon, there will be things like this hovering over every zip code, keeping “an eye on things”. That will be very comforting, won’t it?
So we are only about 25 years behind earlier predictions.
The government is horrifyingly out of control regarding invasions of privacy and violations of the 4th Amendment.
Clever iconic images of the leader of the free world with the word HOPE underneath, and his Fascist-like logo, in red, white, and blue, have infiltrated kindergartens and preschools. Nobody seems to have noticed the implications.
Nonetheless, you people don’t care about those stupid first ten amendments any longer, do you?
Hell. Most of you morons can’t even list them.
“And this is going to do what exactly?”
Mostly bomb Canadian SF authors trying to reach sanctuary back in Canada
Surveillance, has always occurred on the borders between nations. This technology is perfect for the role. It can stay aloft a long time between refueling’s, and can carry lot’s of sensors. I was wondering when the USCG would get some of these. If they prove to be mechanically reliable these could really make a difference, it might also prove useful in search and rescue.
“wondering when the USCG would get some of these.”
You really think the USCG will be flying them? My bet is the Big Boys will let the Coast Guard occasionally see some of the imagery and that is all.
As long as they don’t arm them. But you know they will.
Wonder what it’s carbon footprint will be?